This invention pertains to a non-invasive apparatus and method for measuring arterial compliance, arterial lumen area, the amount of blood flowing through the artery, and the phase lag between the pressure and blood flow waveforms.
Occlusive cuffs are commonly used to measure blood pressure using the auscultatory method. During this method, the cuff is placed on a patient's arm, inflated, and gradually deflated while the attending physician relies on the generation of Korotkoff sounds to determine systolic and diastolic pressure. It is known in the art, however, that occlusive cuffs can be used in other ways to obtain other valuable information.